WATCH: Police join forces in bid to disrupt cross-border gangs

The PSNI say they are working closely with An Garda Síochána in a bid to disrupt “cross-border gangs” who are believed to have been responsible for many recent burglaries in the local area.

The assurance that officers from both forces are working together in a bid to prevent break-ins was given after members of the public questioned what action police are taking to tackle such criminal activity.

In response to people’s concerns, PSNI Banbridge posted a video on Facebook showing some of the measures used in cross-border policing operations.

“It’s no secret that we believe cross-border gangs are responsible for many of the burglaries recently. A lot of people have asked what we’re doing about that,” the post said.

“The type of operation shown in this video is nothing new, but in recent times we’ve been putting in extra effort to work with our Garda colleagues to tackle the low lifes who break into people’s homes, on occasion causing horrific injury and every time leaving the victims traumatised.”

Stressing that both forces are determined to tackle criminality, Chief Inspector Jon Burrows commented: “Burglars and other criminals don’t stop at any border. Unfortunately for them, we continue to work closely with our colleagues to disrupt all criminal activity which spans the border. With regular operations and sharing of relevant information, we enjoy a good working relationship with An Garda Síochána.”

Chief Inspector Jon Burrows. Pic by Jonathan Porter, PressEye

Appealing for the public to help in the fight against crime by being the “eyes and ears of the community”, police have urged local people to report any suspicious activity to police as quickly as possible by calling 101, or 999 in the case of an ongoing incident.